Catalyst
by Wordcounter
Summary: Due to the instability of the Bassen Rift, Captain Picard and his crew are transported to the B5 universe.


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Genre: Anime/Non-Anime

Date: 110404

Update: 150205, 080305, 170305, 170405, 030505, 230805, 311005.

Type: A Ranma/Babylon 5/Star Trek crossover

Disclaimer: Ranma and the Nerima Wrecking Crew belong to Rumiko Takahashi while Rifts and Nightspawn belong to Palladium. Babylon 5, Nightspawn and Sailormoon belong to all their creators respectively.

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C A T A L Y S T

Part 1 :

Babylon 5 .....

The last best hope for peace ..... in the galaxy.

"Captain! I have news," A man in military uniform entered the room.

"What is this?" the Captain asked, his voice non-too-serious at the moment.

"Our scout ships have picked up a signal orbiting the Binar-X star system. About fifty light years from here."

"What is it?" John Sheridan asked.

"We did a long-distance close-up of that sector of space with our best sensors and this is what we found."

A picture of a white saucer-shaped ship with two forward nacelles appeared on the viewscreen. Somewhere on the side of the ship are the printed words 'USS Enterprise.' Another ship that was shaped like an upside-down 'Y' could be seen to be embedded in the middle section of the ship. This ship appeared to have a curved eagle-like head at the front with no visible windows. Unlike the first ship, this ship had no name. Both ships, however, appeared to be heavily damaged from the collision although it was apparent that the first ship with the name 'USS Enterprise' had suffered more damage.

"What do you make of this Susan?" the commander of the Babylon 5 station asked as he handed the picture of the two ships to her. "Very interesting. None of the ships are known to us in any way. Not even the one with the name 'USS Enterprise" which suggests English as the communication language. Their designs and configurations are unfamiliar to us. Especially the 'USS Enterprise.'"

"Michael?"

"That's not all. If you look at the damage on the 'USS Enterprise', you would see that it was heavily damaged in the front part of the saucer section which is strange considering that the collision with the second ship took place in the back of the ship. Meaning to say that the 'USS Enterprise' had collided with something else with the front part of the saucer section but whatever it is, is not there or no longer there."

"Good. That's what I thought too. Prepare a boarding party. Find out if there are any survivors. File a report to me as soon as you can," the commander replied as he turned to the window.

"Yes, Sir." Susan replied as she headed for the spacedock.

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Earth .....

"Sir, one of the merchant ships passing by the Binar-X star system discovered something that might interest you."

"What is it?" the President of Earth muttered in a bored tone.

"This," his aide replied as he handed him a couple of pictures.

"Is this some kind of trick? If it were, I would have you strung up by your tights," the President growled.

"This is no trick. The two vessels in the picture are not in our database of known ships at all which suggests that they belong to a new race. What's more, the saucer-headed vessel has the words 'USS Enterprise' printed onto it."

"USS Enterprise? Very interesting .... Is that all?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Prepare our fleet for retreival immediately! I want the wreckage sent to R&D as soon as possible. This is a level 10 classified presidential directive!"

"Yes sir!" the man in uniform replied as he quickly left the room of the most powerful man on Earth.

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Centauri Prime ......

"Your Majesty, I have important news for you."

"What is it, Refa?" the mad Emperor asked, twirling his thumb with his fingers as he looked down on the kneeling man.

"One of our ships that was flying past the Binar-X star system discovered this."

"I see. Send our ships and see what we can find from the wreckage. Who knows, we might even discover some new weapons to use on our enemies!"

"As you command," the man replied hoping to leave the Emperor's presence as soon as possible.

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Minbari homeworld ...

"One of our supply ships to the Seventh Constellation found this on the way back."

"What is it?"

"You tell me."

"USS Enterprise. A human name. English. EA ship? The other? No name."

"What do you make of it?"

"I can't say. The circle grows and changes. Maybe this is one of it."

"Whatever. So what do we do? Have one of our Sharlins check it out?"

"Better. Send several Sharlins just in case. An incident like this is sure to attract attention."

"All those in favour?"

Murmurs of agreement stirred through the hall.

"Those not in favour."

There were none.

Within minutes, there were several ships headed for one destination. The Binar-X star system.

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In an undisclosed location on Babylon 5 ....

"Sir, our spies on Centauri Prime have this to report."

Glancing through the file quickly, the alien spoke.

"By the First Ones! This wreckage may hold the key to our freedom and salvation from the accursed Centauri! Marshall all our remaining forces. We must acquire the ships before others do! Inform the High Council of the situation. I will personally assume command of this force."

"Yes sir." the alien replied.

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Near the wreckage ....

"Liutenant.... We are nearing the ships. No sign of anyone else."

"Look for an access hatch."

"Aye Liutenant!" the man replied as the Starfury flew around the wreckage of the two ships.

"Despite the damage taken from the collision the structure remains intact. Especially near the saucer section."

"Liutenant ... There appears to be an access hatch right below the bottom."

"Alright everybody. Suit up! It's time for us to go in."

"Yes sir!"

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On board the Enterprise ....

"This is incredible, Liutenant! The ship itself appears to be generating its own gravity without a rotating instrument of any sort."

"I have completed an analysis of the air. It is still breathable. We can remove our suits."

"Liutenant, the inside of the ship appears to be rather big. I suggest we split up so that we can cover the entire ship more quickly."

"Alright! Everybody in groups of threes. Weapons at the ready. Nobody goes alone anywhere."

"We start searching for survivors or any useful clues as to what happened to the ship."

There were twenty-four of them not counting Susan. Three of them remained at the entrance while the rest began scouring the ship.

Ten minutes later .....

A group of soldiers stopped one when they stepped on a dark patch on the ground that clung to their shoes.

"What do you make of this?"

"It appears to be some kind of slime on the ground. Let me collect a sample of it for analysis."

"Lights here appear to be out."

Susan switched on her flashlight and advanced slowly down the corridor.

"Liutenant!" a voice called out from her communicator.

"Yes."

"Team C has located what appears to be the command center for this ship."

"Alright, I will be heading down there. Keep searching. Tell me if you find anything useful."

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It was dark. The Babylon soldiers made their way carefully through the corridors of the ship. Signs of damage were everywhere. Sparks of bright blue energy were still leaking from broken conduits and the familiar stench of burnt material filled the air.

"Visible signs of damage all over the ship," the three men spoke as they pressed onward ever further down the corridor. Unknown to the three men, something was observing their movements from the darkness.

The doors in front of them slid open. The body of a man in some strange kind of black and orange suit fell to the ground, motionless.

"Liutenant, we've found a body."

"Seems to be coated in some kind of slime. Yagh ... " one of the soldiers replied.

"Where?"

"Fifty feet away from where you last left us."

"Gross ... There a appears to be a large cavity in his chest area. There also appears to be some kind of rifle lying next to him."

"Rifle. Remember to bring it in."

"Yes, Sir."

Suddenly a loud scream broke the silence of the corridor. The other two soldiers quickly got to their feet and shone their flashlights onto the origin of the scream. One of their teammates was struggling to push off what appeared to be a small, leathery, spider-like creature with a meter long tail attached to his face.

"No! Don't shoot! If you do, you might kill him accidentally!" one of the soldiers spoke as his companion raised his weapon to open fire at the creature.

"censored! It won't let go!" one of the men spoke as they both tried to pry the creature loose from their companion's face.

"Alright then. Let's cut it loose." one of the soldiers spoke as he drew out his combat knife from his belt.

Quickly, he cut off the tail of the creature that was wound around the neck of the soldiers only to stop when he heard a sizzling sound. Much to his disbelief and shock, part of the blade had disappeared as smoke arose from contact with it. A drop or two of the blood fell on the clothes of the soldier and more of the sizzling sound was heard as it bubbled into smoke.

"Goddamnit! The creature. Its blood is like acid!" the soldier replied as he drew out a piece of cloth to wipe off the blood droplets that had fallen onto his companion.

"I don't like this, man. I think we better go."

Quickly, they lifted up and carried their companion back to the exit.

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On the bridge of the Enterprise ....

"So what do you make of this?"

"The technology here is highly advanced."

Just then ... Susan spoke on her microphone.

"What do you mean?"

"Liutenant?"

"One of our teams reported being attacked by some alien creature."

"Liutenant, I am reading various alien creatures heading in the direction of our teams."

"All teams report to the bridge immediately! Alien lifeforms believed to be hostiles approaching all of you from different venues."

There was a scream from the microphone.

"This is an emergency! They're everywhere! Aiieeee!" a cry broke out from one of the soldiers. Then there was silence.

"Common, we're leaving for the ship."

"Liutenant. I don't that's possible. Look." the female technician said.

On the screen, twenty jump points opened up to reveal large heavy cruisers.

"EA cruisers. President Clark must have sent them. They'll be here in moments. Seal all exits. Shoot at anything that moves." the liutenant spoke as entrance to the bridge slid shut.

"This is Liutenant Susan to the EA Churchill. Leave for Babylon 5. Do not engage EA forces. Leave now! It's a direct order!"

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Aboard the EA Llewelyn ...

"Guess who's here. The traitors from Babylon 5." the EA commander sneered.

"Attention! EA Churchill! Surrender or be destroyed!"

"Sir. Their ship is turning around."

"Leaving so soon? I don't think so. Kill it."

They opened fire on the ship only to have it disappear in a flash of light as it made the jump to hyperspace.

"The traitorous cowards have left. Secure the alien ships. We're taking them to Earth."

Six vessels would pull the alien ships via a pair of grappling hooks each attached to one section of the alien ships. The remaining fourteen vessels would provide escort.

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Just as the retrieval group were preparing to leave ....

"Sir, we are receiving a transmission. Origin, unknown," the communications officer informed the Captain.

"Bring it on," the EA captain ordered. The face of a bald-headed caucasian man in orange uniform with black stripes appeared on the screen.

"To whom do I have the honour of addressing?"

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. You are in illegal possession of Federation property. Please return it to us immediately," the bald-headed man replied.

"Forgive me, but I don't see you, your ship or your Federation anywhere." the EA captain sneered.

Unperturbed, the bald-headed man ordered, "My apologies. Drop the cloak."

Like the two alien vessels that they were towing to Earth, there was no rotating section on board that ship. That was where the similarities ended. Unlike the Enterprise which looked like a vacation cruise ship, this vessel looked menacing somewhat. Sinister even. With its stingray-like shape. It reminded him very much of the mythical Shadows he saw once during a patrol on an exploratory mission, the commander thought with a little dread.

"Configuration unknown. Height is estimated to be around 800 meters high while width is estimated to be at least 1300 meters across from the front. Size wise, it is equivalent to one of our Hyperion heavy cruisers. Design is completely different from the other two ships. I am counting twenty-seven concealed missile bays of some sort on various strategic positions across the body. This must be a warship," the Liutenant spoke as she studied the alien shape of the starship in front of her.

"Mr. Picard, this ship has now become property of Earth Alliance. If you wish to file a claim, talk it over with my boss."

"And who might your superior be?"

"He would be our most respected leader, President Clark of Earth Alliance."

"Let me speak with him."

"Then come to Earth. With us. I will let him know about your visit."

"We will be on our way."

Lights lit up around the squadron of five EA vessels. They went through, vanishing from the sensors of the ship.

Picard spoke. "Engage at warp nine. We're going to Earth."

The vast dark metallic ship that was still, suddenly moved forward so very quickly that its movements seemed like a single drawn stretched outline of its shape. For a single instant in time, the back of the ship remained before it too disappeared in a flash of light.

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On the bridge, the crew of the Enterprise are having a discussion with their newly 'acquired' crewmembers ...

"They appear to be using some rudimentary form of hyperspace technology, Captain." Data spoke as he watched the beacons lit up as the Earth Alliance vessels towed the Enterprise to Earth.

"Jumpgates," a female voice belonging to that of a shoulder-length, flame-coloured hair woman spoke.

"Jumpgates? I am not familiar with that term."

"It's what the ships do when they make the leap into hyperspace."

"Jumping ... I see." the Captain replied.

"Still, the means of doing so are rather primitive but the results are nothing short of remarkable. They are able to cut long distances by creating jumpgates into hyperspace or jumpspace. Something that Federation researchers have tried to accomplish for the past decade even before reaching the limits on warp travel in the galaxy. Other than that, they use ion drives, an antiquated means of propulsion through deep space that has not been in use in the Alpha Quadrant for the past two hundred years."

"Since our scans have not found any warp signatures, we can safely conclude that the ships in this sector have no knowledge of warp drives."

Picard nodded his head.

"So what do you think of the EA captain, Counselor?" Picard asked.

"He was lying to you Captain. I think that we should be ready for a trap upon entering Sol," Deanna replied.

"She's right. His ki signature was constantly fluctuating as he spoke. This itself showed duplicity in what he told you," the deeply-muscled man in combat fatigues and dark sunglasses added.

"I agree. There is a seventy-five percent probability that you would have to go to war over the Enterprise. I seriously doubt that they would give it back willingly," the flame-haired woman replied.

"Our decryption and analyis of their civillian and military transmissions through the Sol system suggests a repressive dictatorship-style of government similar to that of the Hitler regime of Nazi Germany and the Soviet regimes of the Comintern countries of the 20th century. It wasn't so long ago that they crushed a rebellion by their colonies by bombing them back to the Stone Age. I suggest caution in dealing with their leader, President Clark, Sir," Data spoke.

"Alright then. The moment we drop out of warp, raise shields." the bald-headed captain ordered.

"Aye, Captain," came the reply.

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Earth .... but still not home .....

"We have arrived in the Sol System. Current scans of the system have revealed twenty cruiser-sized ships. The dimensions of each ship is at least 1 000 meters long and 300 meters wide. Height is 400 meters. Size aside, their threat level is negligible unless they succeed in ramming their ships into us. I don't believe it! They still need to rotate a section of their ships to generate artificial gravity."

"They have no shields and the structural integrity of their ship is highly inferior compared to that of our ship. Even a single shot fired by our disruptors will tear their ships apart without much problems. Furthermore, they still rely on first generation energy weapons such as lasers, plasma and particle beam weapons. Even the shields on the Enterprise would be more than adequate to defend against any of these attacks."

"Captain. We have dropped out of warp," the Klingon announced.

"The cruisers are moving to surround us. The Enterprise and the alien vessel have been towed past the moon," he continued.

"Captain, the small fighters appear to be laying mines around the exit points for our ship. They have already covered up 20% of the area around us. In one hour's time, if we don't do something, we won't be able to move without hitting one of those mines when we need too," Data spoke.

"Hail them," the Captain ordered.

"They're not answering our hails." Data replied.

"Turn around and move towards the location of the Enterprise."

"Turning around."

"Sir ... three of their cruisers have moved forward to block our exit."

"Engage the cloak and take us to the Enterprise."

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Aboard the EA New Amsterdam ....

"What do you mean you can't find them?"

"I'm not picking up anything on visual, EM or tachyon sensors. It's as if their ship has teleported out of the area."

"Send a message to them. Maybe they're still around."

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After a few minutes .....

"Sir .... we are being hailed." Worf spoke.

"Any chance of us being picked up if we respond to the hails?"

"No. Their sensors are more than a hundred years behind standard Federation sensors and not even the sensors aboard the Enterprise could penetrate this type of cloak." Geordi replied through the communicator from the engine room.

"On screen."

The picture of a man in EA uniform appeared.

"President Clark, I presume."

"I am not President Clark. I am his Presidential Aide."

There was silence for a moment.

"The President is not well at the moment. I suggest you come back in three days time to speak with him." the man said.

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Meanwhile ....

"Goddamnit! Can't you pinpoint their source of transmissions?" the EA commander was screaming in frustration at his technician.

"No, Sir. It's like they're not even there," his technician replied.

"Then how are there transmitting to us?" he asked again.

"They're using some highly advanced form of stealth field that is somehow able to mask their tranmissions. It's like the Minbari stealth field only much, much better considering the fact that they're able to hide from all our ship's sensors and visible sight while they're transmitting."

"Any clues from the Enterprise?"

"None yet, Sir. The three recovery teams that we sent in have yet to make a report."

"Get Psi-Corps. Maybe their telepaths might be able to find them."

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In the briefing room ...

"They're playing for time. By the time we get back to begin negotiations to reclaim back the Enterprise, they would have already taken the Enterprise apart."

"And we would be stuck in one of those rounds of endless 'negotiations.' So how do we recover the Enterprise from under their noses without starting a interstellar war?"

"Captain, I believe I may have a solution." the shoulder-length haired woman replied.

"Explain."

"There is a technology that I have come across in my travels which is called the Chronosphere. It works by teleporting entire vehicles across vast distances by creating a distortion-like tunnel in the spacetime continuum. We would be able to transport the two vessels to a location that is unknown to them. The limit in terms of distance depends on the reach of our sensors or the limit of our starcharts."

"Wouldn't we have to lower the shields to do that?"

"The Chronosphere unlike the transporters that you have is not affected by shields. Also unlike the ship's transporters, size is not really a factor unless you're thinking of transporting a planet or something. Then I got to really modify the Chronosphere to allow for planetary bodies or even celestial bodies. Other than that, the two vessels should be small enough to get through the Chronosphere."

"When can you get this device ready?"

"Two hours."

"Make it so."

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Meanwhile aboard the EA Llewelyn ...

"So where are they?" the EA commander asked.

"They're right there. Beside the Enterprise," the Psi-Corp operative replied.

"Move our vessels to block their escape routes," the EA commander ordered his crew.

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Aboard a large, cloaked, heavily armed and shielded vessel ....

"Sir the EA vessels are closing off all possible exits. I think they know where we are."

"Geordi, .... " the captain spoke.

"It's not his fault. They pinpointed our position with telepaths, Captain. There was no way their ship's sensors could have found us. I felt the presence of a strong mind aboard that ship," the Counsellor spoke as she studied the large viewscreen with the rest of the crew.

"Looks like we don't have a way around them except by going through them," Riker said as he watched the gathering ships.

"Geordi, would it be possible to build a phase cloaking device?" Picard asked.

Riker involuntarily raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Sir, that would be a direct violation of the Treaty of Algeron." Data replied in his usual unflappable manner.

"What do you think, Number One?"

"The cloaking device aboard this ship is already in direct violation of the Treaty of Algeron. But we have several other things to consider here. There is no Romulan Empire in this universe. The Federation does not exist here either. Neither does the Algeron star system. We are surrounded by potential hostile powers such as the Centauri Republic, the Minbari Federation, Earth Alliance and who knows what else? Until such a time that we have returned to Federation space, it would be technically alright to keep the cloaking device. Furthermore, this vessel was not ours to begin with."

"We don't have the schematics for such a device aboard this ship. However, the computers aboard the Enterprise still may have them."

"Aiko, how much longer until the Chronosphere is complete?"

"Ninety minutes."

"Hurry up. I don't think we got ninety minutes."

"Geordi and Data will get the schematics for the phase cloaking device aboard the Enterprise."

"Captain, I have a suggestion to make. Let Geordi go with Ranma instead. He's the undefeated master of self-defense and has a 100% record of success in hostage-rescue operations. Besides, I don't think you want to risk Data getting captured by EA," a voice came across the intercom.

"The Enterprise appears to be heavily guarded by EA cruisers. We'll lower the shields temporarily and then transport Geordi and Ranma to the Enterprise."

"Make it so."

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On the bridge of the Enterprise ....

There was a shimmering light as two figures appeared startling the Babylon team of eight soldiers hunkered in various defensive positions around the ship.

"Somebody's been here," the muscularly large figure spoke.

"Who?" The Starfleet Engineer asked as he looked around in the darkness of the room.

"Doesn't matter who. Just get the data and go," Ranma spoke. Even without scanning the surroundings, he could pick up eight distinct ki signatures in the same room as them.

The smaller-sized man merely nodded his head and went to the ship's computers. Using a small device, he touched a few glowing panels and the viewscreen changed.

"Found it! Now for the download," Geordi murmured as he typed furiously on the keypad.

"Not so fast people! First, who are you people?" a woman spoke as her team pointed their various weapons at the new arrivals.

Sure, the sudden appearance of the two men had startled her team but they had adapted to it rather quickly being trained veterans and all.

"Somebody's coming. There's three of them heading for the bridge." Ranma replied.

"Don't give me that bull load of crap," Susan replied.

"How much longer, Geordi?"

"Give me another thirty seconds."

Both men did not have thirty seconds. The doors slid open to reveal ... nothing entering the room. The doors slid shut. But Ranma knew better. Despite the absence of any images on his visual sensory system, his ki senses were able to 'see' three distinct ki signatures approaching.

He moved quickly in front of the Starfleet Engineer to protect him from any possible attacks. There was a ripple-like movement in front of him and it slowly gained texture and colour to reveal a humanoid with dreadlocks in segmented metal armour complete with faceplate, helmet and boots holding a large and very sharp two-headed metal spear. Another figure-shaped ripple moved to coalesced in the form of a figure clad in armour almost identical to the first.

Both figures easily reached a height of seven feet. Suddenly, one of them reached down and threw something that expanded rapidly into a metal net through the doorway. It struck three dark-skinned creatures that were just about to rush into the room, throwing them back outside. There was a hissing sound as the metal fibers of the net seemed to bite through the skins of the creatures. The second armoured figure threw his spear right through the heart of the black creature trying to dive through the doorway and impaled a second one as it carried the creature back outside. Both armoured figures turned to look at Ranma.

Recognizing an unspoken challenge when he saw one, Ranma decided to one-up the two armoured figures. More of the same horrific creatures poured through the doorway. Ranma did not waste any time. He pulled back both his fists and then thrust forward as a large distortion appeared in between his hands. The spherical-shaped distortion punched through the front most creature, leaving its innards and blood to pour out through the gaping wound then expanded in size, causing the creature to blow apart at the seams as it flew headlong down the corridor into the onrushing horde of nightmarish creatures heading for the doorway.

As it flew downwards, the distortion expanded rapidly as its boundaries took on the shape of the corridor while its body took on the shape of a net that cut through every single creature in front of it, slicing them to ribbons. Like puppets with their strings cut, the black creatures fell to the ground in neatly-cut pieces, their blood and flesh spilling all over the ground. Smoke rosed into the air as the blood of the creatures reacted with the carpeted ground. Corrosive blood! Were the thoughts that went through everyone's mind. Ranma turned to the figures with his non-reflective sunglasses as if to say, beat that.

The three groups studied each other in silence. Finally Geordi spoke, "Geordi to bridge. We got all the data. Pick us up."

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On board the EA Llewelyn ...

"Sir, we have received encrypted transmissions from EA Central Command to capture or failing that, to destroy the alien vessel."

"Very well. Relay the encrypted commands to the entire fleet."

"Yes, Sir."

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On board the bridge, the crew of the Enterprise were studying the movements of their adversaries .....

"Sir, the EA ships are powering up their weapons."

"Evasive maneuvers. Fire to disable their weapons and engines. We don't want to kill them."

"Yes sir."

Three particle beams struck past where they had been moments ago, but they evaded the attacks easily, thanks to the unique nature of the advanced cloaking device aboard the ship. Disruptor shots appeared out of nowhere striking the EA ships at various points.

"Sir, I am receiving a transmission from Geordi. They got the data."

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Aboard the EA Llewelyn ....

"Sir, our weapons and engines are offline."

"What? With just one shot?" the captain spoke in disbelief as more EA ships arrived firing at where they thought the alien vessel was. Most of the shots missed entirely but a few shots hit revealing the ship's location when it did.

"So, they have shields. Like the Abbai," the captain spoke as five more EA vessels were being disabled in the same manner.

"Sir, President Clark has given us the go-ahead to use nuclear weapons against the alien ship."

"What? That's crazy. The odds of successfully hitting that invisible ship are next to nil. We are more likely to hit one of our own ships instead."

"Attention! All EA vessels. Strafe the entire area with energy blasts. Fire nuclear weapons on any shield impacts."

"Yes, Sir."

This time the remaining ten EA vessels with the orbital defenses around Earth fired in a more coordinated pattern around that region of space. Suddenly, a bubble of light energy flared up to reveal the location of the large alien vessel.

"Fire!"

Ten nuclear-tipped missiles left the EA vessels to impact on ........ nothing.

"Sir, it's moving too fast for our missiles to follow."

A beam of energy appeared out of nowhere to hit the EAS Consortium rendering the ship useless.

"We have only nine ships left, sir. Correction. Make that six. They just took out the EA Eastwood, Rutherford and Moonraker."

General Vokoff was not a happy man. The entire defense fleet at Sol was just five ships close to being completely neutralized. By one ship, no less.

111000111000011111000111100001110001111000111110001111 *

"Good news everybody. The Chronosphere is finished," the cheerful of Aiko came over the bridge.

"Use it to move the Enterprise away from Sol."

"It has to be charged up first."

"How long?"

"Five minutes." came the reply as the ship's shields easily withstood another pounding from the orbital defense platforms around Earth.

"Primary shields down to 99%."

"Take out the orbital defense platforms."

"Yes, Captain."

A series of explosions around the Earth indicated the total destruction of the Earth's planetary defense grid. On Earth, Clark was livid. The gall of that man, Picard! Didn't they know who he was? If news of this disaster got around, it might give certain sections of the population the wrong ideas.

"I have bad news, Mr. President. The alien vessel has completely destroyed our entire planetary defense grid."

President Clark pounded his fist into the table. Where was Morden and his associates when you needed them?

111000111000011111000111100001110001111000111110001111 *

"Sir, twenty heavy cruisers identified as Centauri Primus have dropped in from hyperspace." Data spoke as he studied the data on the screens.

Upon entering normal space, they opened fire on the EA ships, destroying most of the ships with ease as all their weapon systems and engines had been disabled. The five remaining EA ships tried to fight back but it was useless as the twenty heavy cruisers were too much for them.

"Sir, do we stop them?" Riker asked as he saw the mass slaughter taking place.

"They are here for the Enterprise. If the Enterprise were to leave, they would leave." Picard replied.

"All EA vessels in the system have been destroyed. Sir, ten of the Centauri ships are powering up their weapons. They're aiming it at Earth."

"Hail, them."

The picture of a man with unusually cut hair appeared on the screen.

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. Do not open fire upon the Earth. Or we would be forced to engage your forces."

"I am General Marragon of the 5th Centauri Fleet. The Emperor would be most upset if I were to leave without the Enterprise. I intend to make sure that we do. If you surrender now, I will make sure that you die quickly," the Centauri commander spoke, most arrogantly.

"Leave now," Picard warned.

The viewscreen cleared abruptly.

Five of the Centauri heavy cruisers began opening fire on the Earth.

"Disruptor banks at the ready. Fire to disable weapon systems and engines."

Energy beams appeared out of nowhere hitting the five Centauri vessels attacking the Earth. Flames broke out on the bow and decks of the Centauri ships as they were struck by disruptor fire.

"Sir, it seems that their ships have a gravimetric distortion field around them that distorts energy beams directed at their vessels causing out attacks to go slightly off course. I am re-calibrating our disruptors to compensate for the distortion." Data replied as he placed his palm over one of the control panels.

Particle beams, laser and plasma shots fired into the space around them in the hopes of hitting the hidden enemy vessel. Unfortunately, the cloaked ship was no longer in the vicinity and began to rain more disruptor fire on the Centauri cruisers from a different position.

"Their weapon systems and engines are down," the Klingon spoke as fire broke out on several Centauri ships.

"Hail them, Mr. Worf."

"They're not responding to our hails."

As one they began opening fire around them randomly. Two of the shots struck the shields, revealing the position of the cloaked ship.

"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Worf." Picard spoke as more energy beams slammed into the shields.

"Primary shields down to 98%. Secondary shields still at 100%," Worf spoke as the ship they were in moved away from its position.

"Lock-on and fire. Disable all their ships if necessary."

Quickly, they returned fire, hitting four more Centauri cruisers causing them to cease movement almost immediately. Once again, the other Centauri heavy cruisers shot blindly at the invisible ship that flew circles around them. It was hopeless. Before long, another five more Centauri heavy cruisers were down with nothing to show for.

"Sir, we still can't pinpoint the location of the enemy vessel. There are no traces of anything on our sensors. Nothing. Our weapon systems are unable to lock-on no matter what we do."

"A thousand curses! Launch all our Vorchans! Tell them to fire in all directions."

Fighter after fighter left the motionless Centauri ships.

"They're releasing fighters. There are one hundred and sixty-six of them," Data spoke as he counted the number of fighter ships on the viewscreens.

"Concentrate weapons fire on the heavy cruisers." Picard ordered.

The fighters gathered in a tight formation before flying around firing in all directions.

"Primary shields holding at 98%." Worf spoke as several explosions struck the shields.

Then, the crew of the Enterprise saw something appear on their viewscreen. Something that made them uneasy. It was large, long and shaped like a spider with too many legs.

"Tactical analysis, Mr. Worf."

"The ship appear to be at least 5 km long. Its organic armour appears to be energy resistant and interfering with our scans somewhat. No deflector shields of any sort detected. Energy readings are high. Weapon systems are powering up."

"The ship is alive, Captain. And sentient," Deanna spoke as she watched the large shape of the black spider-like ship on the viewscreen.

"They appear to be scanning for us," Data replied.

Just then a Vorchan fighter flew too close and collided into the shields causing it to flare up. Suddenly, a beam of purple energy lanced out from the black ship striking them hard causing the ship to shudder.

"Primary shields down to 78%. Secondary shields down to 90%."

"All disruptors on the alien vessel," Picard spoke as they neatly dodged another powerful energy beam attack that cut through an EA vessel, unlucky enough to be in the path of fire.

Moving unseen, the cloaked ship closed in onto the much larger ship before opening fire with all its fifty-two disruptor banks. Deanna fell. Riker caught her before she hit the ground.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice full of concern for his imzadi.

"There was a strong burst of emotions. Mostly pain. From the ship. I felt it," she replied as the viewscreen showed a large piece of the black ship measuring more than eight hundred meters in length and three hundred meters in width broke apart from the rest of the body.

It tumbled through space before crashing onto the surface of the moon and then bounced off again into space from the weak gravity.

"Captain! The broken section of the enemy vessel is heading directly for a collision with the Enterprise!" came the cry.

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Aboard the Enterprise ...

"Geordi, can you get the ship moving?"

"Let me check."

"What's going on?" Susan asked.

"There's something very big and large heading our way. It is not safe here. We must leave the area immediately." the pigtailed martial artist turned T-900 explained.

"Damn! All thrusters are down." the chief engineer of the Enterprise replied.

"Can you detach the saucer section from the rest of the body of the Enterprise?" the heavily muscled Terminator asked again.

"Give me a second. Yess ....," Geordi replied as they felt the ground beneath them began to move.

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Aboard the cloaked vessel ...

"Destroy it!" Picard ordered.

Powerful beams of disruptor energy flew out to hit the broken wreck engulfing it in a blinding explosion. A split second later, several large fragments emerged from the explosion towards the Enterprise, much to the crew's dismay. That wasn't the only thing that happened. Their firing on the large piece of broken wreck had the unfortunate side-effect of giving away their position to their little-known adversary who took full advantage of it.

BOOM!

The ship shook slightly though not enough to throw everyone off their feet.

"Damage report, Mr. Worf."

"Primary shields down to 52%. Secondary shields holding at 90%." Worf spoke from his usual position at the bridge.

"Show them the same courtesy, Mr. Worf," Picard spoke.

"With pleasure, Captain," the Klingon replied and moved his hand over the control dias.

The ship turned once more, returning fire as it did so. Powerful disruptor beams tore through more of the enemy ship digging deep trenches into its dark body and in certain cases slicing of parts of it altogether.

"Their ship has suffered extensive damage to their dorsal fins, forward tendrils and part of their sensor array. 60% of their membrane armour has been destroyed and their primary weapon neutralized. Their life support systems are failing all over the ship and what appears to be a propulsion system has been critically damaged." Data reported.

Large pieces of debris belonging to the enemy vessel drifted past them, a grim testimony to the power of the ship they were in.

"Captain! The saucer section of the Enterprise has detached itself from the rest of the body. The Enterprise is going critical." Worf spoke as the viewscreen showed the saucer section moving away from the doomed body of the Enterprise.

"Worf, move us away to a safe distance. Aiko, do we have the Chronosphere ready?"

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Much to everyone's relief, the answer was the one they had been waiting for.

"The Chronosphere is ready for use. Where do we sent them to?" Aiko's voice sounded over the bridge.

"Send the Enterprise into the star system where our base is at." Picard ordered.

"Done." came the reply.

A ripple-like bubble appeared around the Enterprise and when it cleared the saucer was gone, just as a blinding explosion engulfed the non-moving body of the Enterprise. The explosion was so powerful that the ship shook slightly from the shockwaves emitted from the epicenter of the explosion.

"Amazing. The Chronosphere appears to use Space-Time Distortion to move objects from one location to another. Captain, the core of the enemy ship is becoming unstable. I suggest we leave now," Data spoke.

"Take us out of here," Picard commanded as the viewscreen showed fire and small explosions began to tear apart the severely-damaged black ship.

"Aye, Captain," the android replied as he maneuvred the ship carefully through the unmoving ships and varying sizes of space debris lying like junk in the area.

Then, unseen by anyone, including the crew of the latest entry into the battlefield that had just appeared, the warp drive of the large cloaked vessel powered up before disappearing in a flash of light.

TBC

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End file.
